[mythtv-users] 8400GS -> GT 430 -> ?? (60Hz, VDPAU High Quality)

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 4:24 PM, Christopher Kerr <mythtv at theseekerr.com> wrote:
....
> GT640's are just starting to become available as desktop cards - they're
> based on chips intended for laptop usage, so I expect a low-profile version
> will be along shortly. They should be ~40% faster than GT440's (which are
> basically just factory overclocked GT430's) which would make them strong
> contenders as HTPC cards if a fanless version shows up.

There is "faster" and there is "faster".  For many applications, the
GT430 is "faster" than a GT220, but not for running the de-interlacer
code (the improvements are elsewhere).  Any recent nVidia card
can do decoding of the usual codecs (mpeg/h264) via dedicated
hardware.  The code that does the deinterlacing runs in the
stream processors, and how many are needed, at what clock
speed, is highly dependent on not only your content type but the
nVidia stream processor architecture.    I have seen no
evaluation of the GT640M (the M is important) in regards to
its capability (even using the admittedly sometimes questionable
results from qvdpautest).  Do you have a reference that shows
the results on a GT640M?

The nVidia triad for Linux HTPC:  Low-profile, fan-less, able to
perform Advanced 2X de-interlacing for all content in 60Hz
countries.  Pick any two (well, that is slightly unfair, since
there is other criteria such as HDMI audio, and the presumption
that fan-less does not include cooling solutions such as
water heat transfer, and you are not going to do SMT rework
to change the card layout, etc.)

Gary